This week's new live comedy

Saturday 23 February 2013 01.00 EST
First published on Saturday 23 February 2013 01.00 EST

Harry Hill: Sausage Time, On Tour

It's been eight years since Harry Hill last toured the UK, and audiences have sorely missed seeing his own particular mix of verbal daftness and bizarre physical comedy on the live stage. Of course, Hill hasn't been inactive, spending much of his time hosting TV Burp – which achieved the remarkable feat of finding a place for truly imaginative comedy in ITV's shrill Saturday night schedule. What TV Burp also did was provide a firm real-world anchor for Hill's often startlingly vertiginous flights of fancy, but its self-imposed demise has freed him up to indulge himself. Sausage Time sees Hill backed with a two-piece band but the focus is firmly on the man himself and his wide-ranging comedy mind. Featuring a dissertation on the rights and wrongs of sharia law, chunks of Shakespearean history, a very bouncy mattress and a mind-boggling sausage, it's a barnstorming comeback.

Will Franken: Things We Did Before Reality, London

Will Franken. Photograph: Picasa

Tim Vine once broke the world record for the most jokes told in the space of an hour. You'd suspect US comic Will Franken could pull off something similar, but in his case for managing the greatest number of silly voices within a single show. Where comics like Steve Coogan or Al Murray work hard to develop one or two distinctive characters, Franken creates a dizzying gallery of bizarre grotesques, flitting from one to the other in the same scene, and sometimes within the same joke. As well as great voices, spectacular eye-rolling and a high density of gags, he offers some pointed attacks on the vapidities and hypocrisies of modern life. Franken is particularly fond of nailing the idiocies of his fellow Americans, and he isn't interested in observing taboos either. This leaves him to tackle hot-button issues such as racial tension and transgenderism in a bracingly thought-provoking, rather than crudely offensive, way.

Soho Theatre, W1, Thu to 9 Mar

Stand Up For Shelter, London

Tim Minchin is standing up for shelter. Photograph: Tandy Cameron

Thanks to the warm and kind-hearted spirit of Britain in 2013, there are currently 75,000 children suffering the consequences of homelessness in this country. Raising awareness of this issue – as well as some much-needed funds – is the focus of a Shelter benefit this week, and one that's attracted a diverse mix of A-list talent. Quickfire laughs come courtesy of deadpan Canadian comic Stewart Francis and constantly gigging one-liner provider Jimmy Carr, while there'll be some more unorthodox and cerebral stuff from comedy actor Sara Pascoe. However, probably the biggest attraction comes in the sprawling-haired, kohl-eyed shape of Tim Minchin. Writing the score for Matilda and appearing in Jesus Christ Superstar have restricted his solo live work recently, but he possesses a melodic sensibility beyond many of his peers in musical comedy as well as some often surprisingly subtle writing. A class act.